G’day PoGO lovers! The Lustrous Odyssey event is coming up, featuring an interesting title, and the (fairly controversial) release of Dusk Form Lycanroc, as well as a bunch of other mons that will be spawning throughout the event. Let’s take a quick look at the event from a PvP angle!
I’ll be honest – there’s not a lot to get excited about during this event from a PvP perspective, and the release of the dusk form of Lycanroc has left many feeling bemused about the perceived randomness of the potential to actually obtain one. The reality is that it’s a fairly unique mon in the main series game that is challenging to find, so it does make sense that it would not be straightforward in GO… I won’t go too much into the controversy here as you can form your own opinion on that. If you’re keen to just understand in general how to get the (now 3) forms of Lycanroc, we’ve got a good guide here to help you out.
B.L.U.F.
- Of the Rockruff evolutions, Lycanroc Midnight Form is the only one that makes any sort of splash in PvP, and it is really only suited to limited metas due to its extreme frailty, and its open Great League record is… not great!
- The new Dusk Form Lycanroc is not so hot in PvP, lacking the stats and a fast charging bait move to do any meaningful output in battle.
- Highest priority: Teddiursa, Sneasel, Eevee
- Medium priority: Gastly, Spinarak, Fomantis, Rhyhorn, Lapras
- Lowest priority: the rest
Highest Priority
| Spawn / Raid | PvP Evolution | League/s | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
Teddiursa
|
Ursaluna
|
ML | 
Wild spawn
|
Eevee
|
Umbreon
Sylveon
|
Umbreon: GL, UL Sylveon: UL, ML |
Wild spawn
|
Sneasel (Hisuian)
|
Sneasel (Hisuian)
Sneasler
|
Sneasel: GL Sneasler: GL, UL |
Raids
Field Research
|
Why You Should Grind for These
Teddiursa’s evolution line are quite decent in PvP, and to max out Ursaluna you will need a significant amount of XL candy. Ursaluna is now veering on the spicier side of picks, but is quite decent in the open Master League, and one day it might get access to Shadow Claw, and then all bets are off! It’s worth noting is that Ursaluna can only evolve during a full moon, and needs its community day move to be worth using, so December’s commday was a much better time to evolve your Teddiursa. Still, this could be a good time to grind for XL candy if you need them to max one out, or hunt for the hundo. Ursaring is also pretty decent in the Ultra League, but prefers to be a shadow form to take advantage of its attack oriented stats.
I’ve already done a bit of a write up on Eevee here, and could probably be knocked down a peg into the Medium priority list, but Umbreon is still so good in the open Great League that it slots into the must have list. If you don’t have one yet, then it’s definitely worth finding the bulkiest one you can for the Great League, or the hundo for the Ultra League. Note you’ll need access to the community day move Last Resort as coverage, which will cost you an Elite TM, and a LOT of XL candy to max it out. Sylveon is pretty decent in the Ultra League particularly, but needs access to its community day move Psyshock. The other Eevolutions aren’t great in the open meta, and often aren’t all that amazing in limited metas either, typically due to their lack of bulk, their mono-typing and their ideal movesets lacking good synergy.
Sneasel and Sneasler are both on the spicier side of your PvP priorities. Getting raid / hatch floor IV’s (10-10-10 minimum) doesn’t seem to matter that much for either of them, and in the right limited meta these guys can both be a handful due to their ability to pump out their powerful charged attacks quickly, and overall being a fighter that resists Fighting type damage is nice (just ask Toxicroak). They won’t be around for a long time in battle, but they can absolutely sweep teams if given shields to hide behind. Although these guys have been around in various events recently, they remain one of the rarer spawns overall and you never know when they will be back again.
Medium Priority
| Spawn / Raid | PvP Evolution | League/s | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
Gastly
|
Haunter
Gengar
|
Haunter: GL Gengar: GL, UL |
Wild spawn
|
Spinarak
|
Ariados
|
GL |
Wild spawn
|
Fomantis
|
Lurantis
|
GL, UL (spice) |
Wild spawn
|
Rhyhorn
|
Rhyperior
|
ML |
Raids
|
Lapras
|
Lapras
|
GL, UL |
Raids
|
Why You Should Grind for These
Gastly’s evolutions Haunter and Gengar have fallen from grace a little in recent times, primarily due to the release of other Ghost types that do Ghost type things just a bit better, such as Trevenant and Cofagrigus. The thing is, they are just sooooo glassy, so they really require a heavy investment in shields and careful tactics to use them well. The other thing is that Gengar really wants access to its community day charged move Shadow Punch in order to have a semblance of a bait move to play with. The upside is still pretty high if you can make it work, particularly in the Ultra League. And if you give Gengar a shield advantage – even better. Catch these glass cannons while they’re around and maybe hang onto a couple for the right time to evolve and build.
Spinarak’s evolution Ariados feels like it’s more of an anti-meta pick. When used in the right format (such as the Love cup), it can be so good, though it’s often relying on its hard hitting charged moves to threaten shields due to the lack of fast move pressure from Poison Sting. It’s a fairly cheap build, and one I would recommend hanging onto for the right meta in the future.
Fomantis’s evolution Lurantis is also more of an anti-meta or limited meta pick, but one I personally love. The rise of Great League mons like Gligar, Skarmory and Talonflame, plus a lack of bulk, are definitely preventing it from breaking out in the open Great League and Ultra League, but I would absolutely advocate for grinding while they’re around (particularly for the XL candy for the UL build).
Rhyhorn’s evolution Rhyperior is now Master League meta. Since the addition of Breaking Swipe into its movepool, and the buff of Mud Slap in terms of energy generation, Rhyperior can now output serious fast move pressure and reach its charged moves fairly quickly. Rhyperior wants its community day move Rock Wrecker in its arsenal (for both PvP and PvE), so you might want to wait until later to evolve for its exclusive move, but make no mistake, catching the hundo is a definite boon for both your Master League team and your Rock type team. Grinding for XL candy will be a challenge as Rhyhorn will only be in raids, but the 10-10-10 floor you’ll get from raids increases your high IV catch rates significantly.
Lapras used to be a fairly common sighting, particularly in the Ultra League where its massive bulk and decent moveset allowed it to shine. It still is really decent in its winning matchups, but the prevalence of fighters that resist Water (eg: Poliwrath and Virizion) hurt it’s flexibility. Lassie is definitely still good, particularly in limited metas, but it is now more of a limited meta pick than an open league staple.
Low / No Priority
I won’t go into the below into too much detail. Each of the below are really only ever seen in limited metas, or not at all due to their limited viability in PvP. Aerodactyl sometimes sees play in the infrequent Cups, Midnight form Lycanroc is an ok limited meta pick, and the Lunatone / Solrock line has some spice play in other limited metas such as the Psychic Cup. On the whole though, none of these are worth prioritising for your PvP roster.
| Spawn / Raid | PvP Evolution | League/s | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|
Rockruff
|
Lycanroc (Midnight)
|
Lycanroc (Midnight): GL (limited meta) UL (limited meta) Others: NA |
Raids
Eggs
Field Research
|
Solrock
|
Solrock
|
GL (limited meta) |
Wild spawn
|
Lunatone
|
Lunatone
|
GL (limited meta) |
Wild spawn
|
Morelull
|
Shiinotic
|
GL (limited meta) |
Wild spawn
|
Aerodactyl
|
Aerodactyl
|
GL (Flying cup only) |
Raids
|
Growlithe (Hisuian)
|
Growlithe (Hisuian)
Arcanine (Hisuian)
|
GL (spice) |
Raids
Field Research
|
Wyrdeer
|
Wyrdeer
|
GL / UL (spice only) |
Raids
|
Sunkern
|
Sunflora
|
NA |
Wild spawn
|
Yungoos
|
Gumshoos
|
NA |
Wild spawn
|
Espeon
|
Espeon
|
NA |
Wild spawn
|
Braviary (Hisuian)
|
Braviary (Hisuian)
|
NA |
Raids
|
If you’re keen to take on some of the raid bosses, see our raid guides here: Aerodactyl, Lapras, Hisuian Braviary and Wyrdeer.
Summary
I hope this guide has helped you prioritise your PvP grinding for this event, and as always, you can find me on Twitter or Instagram for more analysis. Good luck with your shiny hunting!
See ya later,
JTizzle
